Aaaahhhh Palm Springs

Okay - life has improved markedly. Palm Springs is stunning. But let me back up a bit. So I hobble onto the plane - an MD80, which has the 2/3 seat configuration. I of course had the aisle seat on the two side. There is a young man in the window seat with short hair. At first I think he's like any other Eminem knockoff (so completely stoked that buzz cuts are coming back, btw) until I sit at down and he gives me his first observation of the trip. Several people are paralyzed in the aisles by the logistics of where to put their gargantual luggage, most of which is balanced above my head, with the hind end of the paralyzed person right in my face area. God, I love to fly. So the stewardesses get super testy and make the obligatory - "Hey you dumb ****'s, how bout you put your stuff up and sit the (*& down so that maybe ONE OR TWO more people who want to go to Palm Springs can get on the plane" announcement. At which point my four square foot roommate says "You know, they tell you before you get on, they tell you as you're getting on, and they tell you after you get on, and STILL NO ONE KNOWS WHAT TO DO!" I instantly like this boy. On a hunch, I ask him where he's headed, and he tells me the answer I already know. 29 Palms. He's a Marine. His name is Will and he's from Alexandria, LA. Deploying to 29 Palms, then Baghdad. God bless these men. He's hungry and misses his girlfriend. Later in the flight I buy him some potato chips (American a tad stingy with the snacks). He thanks me like it's a 3 carat diamond. Can we all agree that the airlines could toss in a $300 plane ticket for deploying troops? He gets a $100 travel allowance from the marines, and American gave him a 10% discount. Really? Come on, isn't this man worth $200? If I had an airline, he would be. More than that, for sure. We say goodbye in the aisle, where we spot one of his green duffel bags on the conveyer coming out of the plane. I hope you stay safe Will!!

So Palm Springs is gorgeous and friendly. I'm at the pool right now (cell phone pic - sorry) before dinner and hopefully an early rest. It's been a long day already. It's 5 at home now so I will clearly be up past my biorhythm bedtime...